Sunday, October 3

Walter Johnson

Boys, this game isn't any fun if you don't get a hit once in a while.

I forget where I read it, but I saw Walter Johnson's name somewhere in reference to baseball at the beginning of the 20th century. It reminded me of the great song about Walter Johnson, performed by Jonathan Richman & The Modern Lovers. I really only know about Walter through Jonathan's song, but, based solely on that, he seems like a pretty interesting fellow. I love the idea of a pitcher purposefully allowing opposing players to hit the ball, so that they'd enjoy the game a bit more.

I'm an occasional fan of Jonathan Richman. I like a bunch of his songs, but can't really listen to many of them in a row. His style and talent wears on me when there's too much of him, I think. When a Richman songs comes on in a random rotation, though, it's always great to hear it.

I remember where I read it. A sports article about the Expos moving to Washington. Walter Johnson played for the Washington Senators, back one of those times when there was a Washington Senators team.

Check out this song. I bet, like all of baseball, you'll come to love and respect the player.